Cranky old man: SAVING KRYPTON

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

SAVING KRYPTON

SAVING KRYPTON

I visited Frog this week, 3 hours away in Maryland, to play a round of golf. During this visit I noticed a certificate given to Frog for “Heroism above and beyond the call of duty.” It was issued by his two teenage boys.

“Ok Frog, what is up with the certificate?”

Frog was obviously very proud of the story that followed:

It seems that the two Tadpoles had three goldfish that they had won at a carnival several years ago. One died of unknown causes. The other died trying to make a run for it to the small stream that runs behind Frog’s house. This desperate fish had jumped out of his bowl and flopped across the room only to be stopped by a closed door. He died some one quarter of a mile and a closed door away from fish freedom.

The third fish was named Krypton after Superman’s home planet because of its seemingly indestructible quality.

(I know...Planet Krypton blew up! Hey, I didn't name the fish.)

In the aftermath of Super-storm Sandy the Frog family was without power. They stayed with a friend who hadn't lost power. On the fourth day after the storm, Frog realized Krypton’s bubbler would not be operating, and he may be running out of oxygenated water.

Frog checked up on the fish and found him listing heavy to the right. Krypton was lightly flipping one side flipper, but he was clearly only minutes away from being flushed to eternity.

“So, thinking quickly, I ran to the kitchen and…”

“Grabbed a straw to give Krypton straw to bowl resuscitation?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“Years ago, I was feeding a neighbor’s Betta fish while they were on vacation. On the fourth day I found the fish just about belly up in rather dirty water. I blew fresh air through a straw until the fish came to life. I then put clean fresh water into his bowl after I let the water get to room temperature. The fish lived, though he might have suffered some brain damage.”